Monday, September 09, 2013

[042] MTSU new parking garages opens

MURFREESBORO — With
the swipe of his university ID, MTSU Student Government Association President
James Lee watched the mechanical arm-gate smoothly rise, allowing him to drive
his black sports coupe ahead to officially open one of two new student parking
garages on campus.

A large crowd of students, faculty, staff and administrators
gathered in the bottom level of the four-deck, 495-space structure for a brief
ceremony and light refreshments around midday Thursday. Lee opened the MTSU
Boulevard Garage connected to the new Student Services and Admissions Center
still under construction.

“We’re extremely excited to see the result of our campus
coming together to better the university,” Lee told the crowd before his
inaugural spin to the fourth deck. “My fellow students and I now have the peace
of mind not having to worry about parking before heading to class.”

Students paid for the $23.5 million garages through fees
instituted a few years ago. The two four-deck structures will add almost 1,000
net parking spaces to a growing campus that has been challenged for years with
providing adequate parking near the campus core.

MTSU senior C.J. Horton, a math education major from
Savannah, Tenn., was among numerous students on hand for the grand opening.
Horton lives off campus and was happy to see his commute get a little easier.

“Parking has been difficult in the past, and this is going
to help me and a lot of other people I know,” he said. “This is going to be a
massive improvement to campus.”

“It’s going to be helpful,” added senior Elijah Longwell, a
communication studies major from Dickson. “Coming late to class won’t be as big
of a deal because we’ll have more parking now.”

MTSU President Sidney A. McPhee applauded the students for
investing in the campus’ future.

“Thirteen years ago when I became president of this university,
one of the first things I heard when I walked around campus … was parking and
the need the parking,” McPhee said. “The grand opening of this wonderful
addition to our landscape has been in the making for many years.”

The MTSU Boulevard Garage includes a walking bridge that
will run through the new Student Services building and across Blue Raider
Drive, eventually connecting to the second floor of the Student Union.

The other garage is located on the north side of campus next
to the Holmes Building on Champion Way and will be known as the Champion Way
Garage. While road construction along Champion and Lightning Way over the next
several months may limit access to this garage, the goal is for one of the
entrances to be open at all times.

Security features include an open design for improved
visibility such as stairwells covered by a heavy wire mesh material rather than
solid walls. The garages also feature enhanced lighting that brightens and dims
based on motion, and security cameras will monitor the garages’ entries and
exits. Both garages are equipped with elevators.

“These are garages that were built by students, for
students,” Ron Malone, assistant vice president for events and transportation,
told the crowd. “Students, this is for you.”

Faculty, staff and visitors will also be able to access the
garages if they are willing to pay. Non-students can access the garages through
an automated ticket system that will cost $10 a day for anyone parking for
longer than 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, a surface lot east of the new Student Services
and Admissions Center will open later this fall, providing an additional
670-plus parking spaces for students.